Shou-Jiang (S.J.) Gao, Ph.D. is the Program Leader of the Tumor Virology Program at the Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute . He is an Associate Professor of the Departments of Pediatrics, Microbiology and Immunology, Medicine, and Molecular Medicine, and a member of the San Antonio Cancer Institute (a National Institute of Health designated Cancer Center). Dr. Gao has been at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio since 1997. Dr. Gao obtained his Ph.D. in Virology and Microbiology from the University of Bordeaux, France in 1993. His Postdoctoral studies were at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (1993-1994), and College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York (1994-1997).

Dr. Gao is an American Cancer Society Research Scholar and a former recipient of the American Society of Microbiology ICAAC Young Investigator Award . He is also an Honorable Professor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan Institute of Virology, and South China Agricultural University. Dr. Gao has served on several scientific grant review committees for the National Institute of Health and other funding agencies. In the past ten years, Dr. Gao's research program has been focusing on tumor viruses with emphasis on Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpes virus (KSHV), the most recently discovered human herpesvirus. KSHV is the etiologic agent of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), a vascular spindle malignancy of endothelial cells commonly found in patients with AIDS in Western countries, and in both adult and pediatric patients with cancers in Africa . Dr. Gao has made seminal contributions to the understanding of molecular pathogenesis and epidemiology of KSHV infection. Some of his early KSHV studies have been recognized as “Classic” or “Collections” by the prestiges journals, Nature Medicine and New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Gao’s laboratory has been at the forefront of KSHV field.

The recent development of an efficient genetic manipulation and infection system by his laboratory has enabled the use of a comprehensive genetic, genomic, molecular, cellular, and biochemical approach for the study of KSHV gene functions and pathogenesis that could ultimately lead to the development of effective therapeutic and preventive approaches for KSHV-related malignancies.

Dr. Gao is currently funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society.

Greene W, Kuhne K, Ye FC, Chen JG, Zhou FC, Lei XF, and Gao S-J*. Molecular biology of KSHV in relation to AIDS-associated oncogenesis. In: AIDS-Associated Viral Oncogenesis. Craig Meyers (Ed.). Springer Science+Business Media. In press.

Pan HY, Xie JP, Ye FC, and Gao S-J* .Modulation of KSHV infection and replication by MEK/ERK, JNK and p38 multiple mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways during primary infection. Journal of Virology , 2006, 80, 5371-5382.

Ye FC, Blackbourn DJ, Mengel M, Xie JP, Qian LW, Greene W, Yeh I-T, Graham D, and Gao S-J . Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus promotes angiogenesis by inducing angiopoietin-2 expression via AP-1 and Ets1. Journal of Virology , 2007 Feb 7; [Epub ahead of print].

Lu F, Day L, Gao S-J , and Lieberman PM. Acetylation of the latency-associated nuclear antigen regulates repression of Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus lytic transcription. Journal of Virology , 2006, 80, 5273-5282.

Majerciak M, Pripuzova N, McCoy JP, Gao S-J and Zheng Z-M. Targeted disruption of KSHV ORF57 in the viral genome is detrimental for the expression of ORF59, K8, and K8.1 and the production of infectious virus. Journal of Virology , 2007. 81, 1062-1071

Zhu FX, Li XJ, Zhou FC, Gao S-J and Yan Yuan. Functional characterization of Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus ORF45 by BAC-based mutagenesis. Journal of Virology, 2006, 80, 12187-12196.

Fang Q, Liu J, Bai ZQ, Kang T, He ZH, Hu ZH, Gao SJ*. KSHV seroprevalence in the general population of Hubei in China.Virologica Sinica, 2006, 21, 97-101.